Desmid of the month
December 2018

Actinotaenium kriegeri

Actinotaenium kriegeri, formerly considered a variety of A. adelochondrum (see Kouwets, 1997) with its fusiform cells somewhat resembles A. curtum but may be readily recognized by its large, deep cell wall pits rendering the cell outline a somewhat carved appearance. Those pits, not seldom filled up by pore-excreted plugs of mucilage, useually increase in markedness from the semicell base towards the apex. In the Netherlands it is known from a but a small number of sites, occurring on wet substrates.

Reference: Kouwets, F.A.C., 1997. Contributions to the knowledge of the French desmid flora.1. New and noteworthy taxa from the central and eastern Pyrenees. — Archiv für Protistenkunde 148: 33-51.